In June 1615, Dutch navigators Jacob Le Maire (circa 1585–1616) and Willem Corneliszoon Schouten (circa 1567–1625) set out in two ships, the Eendracht and the Hoorn, from the Dutch port of Texel. Their goal was to find a new route to the Moluccas Islands, Europe’s main source of pepper in the lucrative spice trade with the East Indies, and in so doing avoid the trade monopoly of the Dutch East Indies Company. They sailed south of the Strait of Magellan and on January 24, 1616, discovered a ...